It’s a sad day in Springfield. Alf Clausen, composer of The Simpsons for 27 years, died on Thursday, May 29th at his Valley Village home in Los Angeles. Clausen, who won two Primetime Emmys for his composing on the long-running Fox juggernaut, was 84. In addition to being a staple of the music of The Simpsons for nearly three decades, Clausen was also known for his work as a composer on the ’80s detective comedy series Moonlighting, which starred Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd, as well as ALF.
According to Clausen’s daughter, Kaarin Clausen, he was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy several years ago. Clausen joined The Simpsons in 1990, at the start of the show’s second season. With lyricist Ken Keeler, Clausen won two Emmys for the original songs he wrote for the show back to back in 1997 and 1998 — “We Put the Spring in Springfield” and “You’re Checkin’ In (A Musical Tribute to the Betty Ford Center).” However, Clausen’s time on the hit series did not have a happy ending. In 2017, he was fired from The Simpsons, and then filed a lawsuit against Disney and Fox alleging his dismissal was fueled by age discrimination as well as his health diagnosis. Clausen eventually settled the lawsuit in February 2022.
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Simpson Producers Pay Tribute to Clausen’s Legacy
Despite his fraught exit from the show, members of The Simpsons TV family took to social media to express their condolences and sadness over Clausen’s death.
Al Jean, a writer and executive producer on The Simpsons, took to X to express his gratitude for Clausen’s contributions to the show.
The official The Simpsons X account also posted a tribute to Clausen, which featured a quote from co-creator Matt Groening about the composer’s impact on the show.
Clausen told Variety in 1998 that working on The Simpsons was “a dream job for a composer” and revealed the secret to his success composing on the show was his focus on scoring the emotions of the character rather than the on-screen action. He leaves behind a major hole in the television music community and undeniably produced a formidable body of work over his four-plus decade career. Clausen is survived by his wife Sally, ex-wife Judy, sister Faye, three children, two stepchildren, 11 grandchildren, one niece, and one nephew.
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